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Bovine TB may be passed from badgers to cattle not through direct transmission, but through infected pasture and dung, new research shows.

A field study, carried out on 20 farms in Cornwall, aimed to show how the disease was passed to cattle from badgers - which is estimate to account for around 6% of herd infections. Professor Rosie Woodroffe, from the Zoological Society of London, led the new research. She said: "We know badgers can give TB to cattle, but we have never known how."

The breakthrough in understanding came by fitting 100 badgers with electronic collars. The researchers tracked 800 cattle while they were in badger territories, with the number of tracked days amounting to over 8,000.

Just once in 65,000 observations did a badger get within 10 metres of a cow and they preferred to be 50 metres away. Woodroffe continued: "We detected nothing [in way of interactions]. It looks most likely that the badgers are avoiding the cattle."

The discovery has implications for farming practices, in particular slurry spreading. It also explains why TB is so hard to control, even when badgers and cattle are culled, as the bacteria can survive in fields for months, says the story in today's Guardian (5th August 2016). Eradicating TB will require addressing this risk, the research suggests. You can read Damian Carrington's full story here.

Dr Chris Cheeseman, badger ecologist, has produced an important new paper on bovine TB. Titled The Elephant in the Room, it is a scientific perspective on the badger/cattle TB issue and what it calls 'the remarkable failure of this government to address the fundamental problem'.

Dr Cheeseman covers the issues of cattle testing and badger culls, and concludes that culls cannot solve the problem of TB in cattle.

I was called out to check on a female badger that had been badly smashed in the face in a road accident. If you find a female badger, please check by squeezing quite firmly to see if you can produce milk, squeeze from the base of the surrounding nipple to the tip. If there is milk please contact your local badger group, who will do their best to find the young. In this case this badger didn't have cubs. Here is a link to find your local group: http://www.badger.org.uk/#!local-groups/c73lf

We are hearing from a number of sources that badgers are currently suffering regular abuse in the general area of Church Stretton.

All the information we have received to date has been passed to the police, and both the police and Shropshire Badger Group are keen to hear from anyone who is suspicious about the activities of men with dogs, particularly near to a known badger sett.

If the men with dogs are actually seen to be digging or carrying spades, please DO NOT approach them, but immediately ring the police on 999, stating that you think a wildlife crime is in progress. Ask the police to attend right away and give as many identifying details as possible about the men themselves, their dogs, and their vehicles, eg make, model and registration numbers.

Always ask for the Wildlife Crime Officer to attend in person, but remember that speed is essential if the culprits are to be caught in the act. Also ask the police to run the vehicle details through their computer to check if the owner is a known wildlife criminal. If possible, take photos of the vehicles and tyre treads.

We can be contacted via our Badgerline on 01743 271999, our website www.shropshirebadgergroup.co.uk, or our Facebook page, if anyone has information or suspicions they would like to pass on to us in confidence.